First were fruits drifting down like feathers,
their sugar shells & caramel centers gooey.

When the fruits stopped fruiting, she scraped
off the tree’s gingerbread bark using flint

as a spatula. Next gone were leaves–
the sweet ones– but the branches chewed

like celery so were spat out. Feet swollen,
hands rugburn red, she climbed all

night, eating, the tree only sour leaves
& skeleton, exposed heart beating

before a death between teeth, strawberry ice
cream gushing past the mauve, ravenous moon.

(originally published in Bindweed Magazine, Summer 2021)